Unlimited internet will no longer be free at the library as part of £20.5m Sefton Council savings

UNLIMITED internet access will no longer be free at libraries as part of Sefton Council’s bid to save £20.5m.

On Thursday, councillors agreed savings of £4.1m that will affect some of the borough’s most vulnerable.

As well as scrapping free internet access at the libraries, the fresh package of cuts included culling funding packages for children in care and reducing the environmental health department budget.

Maintenance and repair at Sefton’s eight sports centres, including Formby Pool, will be scaled back and support will be lessened for breastfeeding mothers.

The cuts were described as the “least controversial” of £25m of potential savings options put forward by the council for consultation in its stark 191-page dossier.

Labour council leader Peter Dowd said: “This £4.1m is part of £20.5m we must save this year and the sooner we make these savings the better.

“The substantive part of our proposals will not be approved before it has gone out for a very detailed public consultation.”

The report before councillors told of the risks of denying free internet access at libraries, given that 30 percent of households do not have access.

The council intends to introduce a tiered system of charging 50p per half hour after an initial free 30 minutes. Concessions could apply to the unemployed and elderly. Just 34 of 153 local authorities currently charge for the service, with five in the North West.

The report warns: “People wishing to make job applications, study/research for longer periods may not be able to afford the charge.”

Care packages for children looked after by the council or fostered will be cut by 3.3% next year, rising to 6.6% in 2013. The council hopes to do this by commissioning services more efficiently. But it concedes the action could lead to an “increased risk to young people in the community”.

The council, which passed cuts of £44m this financial year, must save £20m by April and a further £18m by 2014.

Lib Dem leader Tony Robertson said the council was facing a significant challenge and pledged cross- party support.

He said: “We will scrutinise the proposals accordingly and raise objections as and when but we will not disagree for the sake of it.”

Other cuts options out to public consultation include disposing of Southport Theatre, culling the tourism service and reducing street lights.

Nina Killen, from the Southport Anti Cuts Coalition, said: “The council is carrying out consultations but, as we know from last year, it doesn’t mean that services will be saved just because it will cause great hardship to cut them.”